Adolescencia y juventud

Young People's Health and Development in the Russian Federation

Project Objectives

Young People's Health and Development in the Russian Federation directed towards promoting and helping to develop innovative new approaches for ensuring young people's health and development rights; aimed at providing young people with information, knowledge and skills on healthy life styles; to ensure access to youth-friendly services and safe spaces, to mobilise public opinion and support national policy makers in elaborating a nation-wide youth policy.

The chief promise of the transition from a state controlled economy to a market economy, has been to empower citizens to readily determine their well being. However, family incomes became increasingly eroded by stagnant economic conditions. Parents, busy with two or more jobs, have less time to spend with their children. Meanwhile the social networks and benefits of the past have disappeared or have been weakened by the lack of funds, leaving children with more unsupervised time.

Project Background

Youth participation through Forums and Councils Under the programme, UNICEF will promote the creation of Youth Forum or Youth Co-ordination Councils. These councils would be based on free association, informality, and consensus between youth, government departments, NGOs, and media. Youth Councils should be functioning under the aegis of the Mayors and provide a mandate for youth to be directly involved in their own health and development. The Youth Forum is not meant to replace the initiatives by government authorities, NGOs, media, UN agencies or other institutions and individuals. Rather, the Youth's forum is designed to co-ordinate these processes, share expertise, resources and experiences, and give youth a direct voice in the decision-making process.

"Safe spaces", Information Centers, Youth Clubs Federal Agencies, international organisations will work with NGOs, the media, and young people organisations to create information networks and at least one Information Centre in all major cities. Information Networks would be working examples of a multi-sectoral collaboration between city and regional authorities and NGOs, media and other organisations.

National Resource Network The National Resource Network will be established through joint efforts of government ministries and departments, city and regional authorities, UN agencies like UNICEF, UNIC, UNAIDS, UNHCR and UNDP, national and international NGOs. Due to the vastness of the country and cultural, social and economic diversity of the regions it seems that one or two library-type resource centres won't be able to satisfy the informational needs of potential users. It is more feasible to link various government departments, Information Centres, Youth Information Networks, mass media, UN and other international organisations through electronic communication network. The National Resource Network central role would be to develop, collect, process and make information accessible - nationally and internationally.

Prevention of HIV/AIDS, drugs and STDs This type of activity will be planned and implemented in close collaboration with UNFPA and will include the establishment of - a special set of counselling and medical services in youth-friendly clinics - counselling services and outreach work with families under stress - schemes for job opportunities creation for young people.